Tennessee: The Volunteer State

BY RIDLEY WILLS II

Tennessee earned the nickname Volunteer State after the state’s overwhelming participation in the War of 1812.

Sixteen years after gaining statehood, patriotic Tennesseans were eager to engage in the war effort with Gen. Andrew Jackson — a fellow Tennessean — leading the charge. This was especially true in the Battle of New Orleans, the final major battle of the war, when Jackson and his army, largely consisting of Tennesseans and Kentuckians, defeated the British Army under Mj. Gen. Sir Edward Parkenham.

Young Tennesseans also remembered stories their fathers told them about the Revolutionary War, including the defeat of the American Tories under British Major Patrick Ferguson at King’s Mountain, South Carolina. Some knew that Nashville was originally named Nashhboro, but changed its name to Nashville in the 1780s because of Nashvillians’ hatred of the British and their appreciation for the substantial help France gave the Americans in the Revolutionary War.

Another reason Tennesseans were so supportive of Andrew Jackson during the War of 1812 was that it was an exciting way to get away from their confined lives in a very rural state. Most Tennesseans lived on small farms in 1814 where there were no public schools, no ferries crossing the major rivers, no steamboats, dirt roads, and few jobs as Tennessee had virtually no industry. The best jobs poorly educated young men could hope for were farming, blacksmithing or operating a stable. Tennessean men were, however, for the most part, excellent riflemen, having grown up hunting bear, turkey, rabbits and deer and killing wild cats and mountain lions. Most were also physically strong having grown up working long hours on farms.

A majority of young Tennesseans of military age had never been more than 20 miles from their log cabin homes and, because of their isolation, often married their cousins. Fighting the British would, they thought, bring in some money and would be exciting, even fun.

THEME: INTERNATIONAL GREETINGS

ACROSS

1. Russian czar's edict or proclamation

6. Common stomach disorder, acr.

9. Thai currency

13. Femme fatale

14. Cow greeting?

15. High-quality black tea

16. Heretofore (2 words)

17. Used for making holes

18. Old and feeble

19. *Precedes or follows alaikumin a greeting

21. *Robin Williams' "Good Morning, ____"

23. Family memb.

24. Blood fluids

25. R&R spot

28. Standout 30. All together (2 words)

35. Crafts' companion

37. Hyperbolic tangent

39. River in Paris

40. Traditions typically passed on by word of mouth

41. Home of Darfur

43. Opposite of base

44. Carthage's ancient neighbor

46. Have supper

47. Condoleezza of politics 48. Pleasantly warm 50. Type of mine passage 52. JFK's brother 53. Famous Allen Ginsberg poem 55. Band booking 57. *Hello in Normandy region 61. *Hello in Haifa 64. Letter-shaped girder 65. Female reproductive cells 67. Did like a lunatic

RAIN, RAIN

BY JEN A.

Rain, rain go away

You've thwarted my sales for another day

I know you make the flowers bloom

But couldn't you fall by the light of the moon

Newspaper and water do not mix

And the lightning you travel with puts me at risk

So show some compassion and do me a solid 'ey

Why not tomorrow take a sun-shiney holiday

My Dear Amelia

BY JEN A.

My dear Amelia

You saw us selling our papers

There on the street corner

But you not only saw us

You thought of us afterward

And decided to do something

To help one of us

That means EVERYTHING

To a Contributor vendor

You decided to put your Piggy-bank money

Where your heart is

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

73. Precedes whiz

74. It typically has 4 doors

DOWN

1. Stars and Stripes country

2. *Unspoken greeting in France

3. Ned Stark's youngest daughter

4. Prevents one from seeing 5. Have as logical consequence 6. Mosque prayer leader 7. *Japanese greeting move

To crack, as in case

Out of shape

Kindred 11. *Hello in Spain or in Mexico

27. Places in the heart 29. Praise

Kind of hug

In

For your kindness

As Willy Wonka once said

To Charlie Bucket

"So shines your good deed

In a weary world!"

You are forever in our hearts

Much love, always Contributor vendors all

Aloft

BY LISA A.

Embraced like a mild summer day

After the fiercest of storms, a circle of warm kind smiles.

Fist bumps, elbows graze, heads nod, we head over to the pool, bobbing, limping, wheeling, Hobbling, humping, flapping, mincing, ambling.

Splish! Splash! into the pool we go, laughing, bobbing, weaving, it’s like a bathtub full of toys with your friends. We survived the storm. Now we flock together, holding each other aloft. Contributor vendors all

Charlie, my dear friend,

I’ve been listening to your old voicemails since you died. My heart is raw from your passing, but it’s a balm to hear your gentle voice again, to hear you say “I love you” one more time. I’m finding it hard to wrap my mind around the fact that I'll never again feel your reassuring hand on my shoulder. Even when your hand started to shake softly with Parkinson’s, you always steadied me, bringing me back to myself in the midst of work that was both grueling and humbling.

The weight we feel in your absence is heavy. Nothing can replace the gift of your presence, your boundless generosity, your centeredness that made us all feel at peace. To know you was to know grace and to believe in the healing power of love. You had such a knack for loving us all so well, for making us feel like we belonged and like we could trust that we were all part of something bigger than ourselves.

Did I tell you enough over the years that it was you who helped me find my voice when I was a college student? Did you understand just how much you encouraged me to hear and heed my calling out of the clamor of religious men who told me to stay silent? You came into my life in a season of uncertainty and vocational upheaval, like you did for so many. You welcomed me into this work when I was an eager, naive student, taking me under